Slicer and Rane
by Darth Rio
Summary: Slicer meets a Jedi girl, and develops a slight crush. Takes place slightly after the beginning of the Clone War.
1. Chapter 1

Slicer sat back on his bar stool and leaned against the wall, looking out over the whole room. Stealth sat next to him, giving the bartender a hard time.

"I just want a Corellian ale."

"Do you got an ID?" the bartender asked. "We don't serve you without an ID."

Stealth sighed. He pointed at his face. "Look at me! Do I look like a minor? You can sell me the stuff, man!"

The bartender shrugged his shoulders and disappeared behind the counter for a second, then reappeared holding a glass of clear liquid with a fruit slice stuck on the brim of the glass.

"Thank you!" Stealth said sarcastically, taking the drink out of the man's hand. He took a sip and made a face.

"Water?" Slicer asked. Stealth nodded and put the glass down, giving up on trying to get an ale. He turned and surveyed the room. A group of girls was sitting at a table, glancing over and occasionally giggling. A blonde looked in Stealth's direction and smiled, waving flirtatiously. Stealth smiled and waved back. The girl frowned, shook her head, and pointed behind Stealth. He ruffled his brow and looked over his shoulder.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me."

"What?" Slicer asked.

Stealth pointed at the blonde. "That girl wants your number."

"RC-109?"

"No, your comm number, _dinii_!"

"Why would she want that?"

"So she can call you, because she thinks you're cute." Slicer took a swig of water.

"But... I look like you."

"I know! I don't understand it either!" Stealth started ranting about how Slicer always got attention from the girls, yet never seemed to notice. Slicer tuned him out after a second. He glanced over at a booth in the corner. There was a rather shady looking man sitting there, his face half covered by an old grey scarf . Slicer studied him a bit closer, then recognized him as Mikal Jansen, the Corellian bounty hunter. But what was he doing here? He didn't seem to be doing much, only monitoring the people, probably looking for his next bounty. Slicer checked around the room, wondering if he should go after the man.

The bell at the front of the cantina rang as the door opened. A girl that looked about in her early twenties walked in. She wore a simple green tunic, and her brown hair was pulled back into a braid. There wasn't anything incredibly spectacular about her, and Slicer wouldn't have noticed, except that Jansen stood up immediately and subtly reached for his hold out blaster, shouldering his way through the room, slowly advancing on the newcomer. Slicer jumped to his feet, cutting Stealth off in mid-sentence. Jansen bumped into the girl in the middle of the cantina. He passed her, then spun around, grabbing her arm and knocking a small metal cylinder off her belt. It clattered to the floor, catching the attention of a few of the closer patrons. Jansen pressed the hold out blaster into the girls back and said something to her, nudging her toward the door. Slicer rushed forward to help. But before he could take even two steps, the girl rammed her elbow into Jansen's stomach, knocking the blaster out of his hand. She aimed a strike at his nose, but he raised his arm in time to block. She drove her shoulder into his chest, and they both went sprawling across the floor. By this time, the patrons had figured out that something was going on. They all stepped back at a safe distance, unwilling to spill their drinks. The girl reached out her hand toward the cylinder, and it flew into her hand as if drawn by a magnet. She flicked a red button on its side, and a green beam of light erupted from the hilt. She turned onto her back and swung at Jansen, but he jumped back to avoid the swing, then kicked at the girls hand, once again disarming her. He made the mistake of assuming she was helpless, though. He dragged her to her feet, a stun dart in his hand, as he attempted to prick her arm with the tip. With one swift movement, however, she wrenched her arm free of his grip, spun around once, and with the momentum, landed a square kick right on Jansen's shin. Slicer heard a muted _crack_, just as Jansen fell to the floor, howling in pain. The cantina bouncer came by then and dragged Jansen off to the back, waiting for the CSF to arrive.

The brown haired girl pushed a few loose hairs out of her face, scanning the floor for her lightsaber. Slicer spotted it underneath Stealth's chair. He bent down and picked it up, cautiously walking over to the Jedi girl, holding it out to her.

"I... think this is yours," he said nervously.

The Jedi smiled as she took it from him. "Thanks. I keep thinking I should tie this thing to my arm or something, just to keep it from rolling away."

"You fight good," Slicer said, grinning. "Er...well. I mean... you fight well. Uh... I'm Slicer!" He gave her a sloppy salute.

"I'm Rane," she said, laughing slightly at his nerves.

"You're a pretty-- I mean, that's a pretty name!"

"Not used to talking to Jedi?"

Stealth rolled his eyes and called across the room. "Girls! He's not used to talking to girls!"

Slicer blushed. "Heh. That's Stealth." He turned and gave him a look. "He's my sister."

Stealth stuck his tongue out at Slicer.

Rane laughed. "Well I'll let you get back to hanging out with him then. Thanks for finding my lightsaber!" Then she turned and left the cantina.

Slicer waved. "Yeah... uh... nice fight! Again. Rane. Good fight."

Stealth walked up behind Slicer. "Who's the new girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend, she was just a really good fighter!"

"That's the best quality in a woman, _ner vod_! Nice pick. When's the wedding?"

"_Ne'johaa_." Slicer said, turning around and going back to his seat.

Stealth called after him, "Hey, since you don't want the blonde, is it alright if I ask her for her number?"


	2. Chapter 2

"I bet you couldn't fit ten ration cubes into your mouth at once," Stealth said, laughing at Slicer.

"I certainly could!" Slicer protested, putting his hands on his hips. The squad couldn't pass up the opportunity to see him try, so they all took any spare ration cubes they had and handed them to Slicer. He started popping them into his mouth two at a time. At about six, he started running out of room. Stealth was practically falling over himself in laughter. Slicer took a moment to shift the cubes around in his mouth, making more room. He took a few more out of his hand and shoved them into his mouth, his cheeks bulging out like a balloon. Even Prime started to laugh at this point. Slicer managed to get the last cube into his mouth. Prime and Stealth started clapping. Lurk just rolled his eyes and did his best to ignore Slicer, still holding a grudge against him. Slicer didn't slow down, though. He stuck an eleventh cube into his mouth, then a twelfth, then tried for a thirteenth.

"Slicer? Is that you?" said a female voice. Slicer looked up, his eyes widening. He immediately spit out all twelve ration cubes.

"Rane!" he exclaimed, his face turning bright red.

Rane stood with her arms folded, an amused look on her face. Two other Jedi were standing behind her. One was a man with shoulder length brown hair who was trying to hold in his laughter, the other was a red haired girl who didn't even make an attempt to stifle her snickers. Rane was doing her best not to laugh too much. "What are you doing?"

"I was... trying to fit ten ration cubes in my mouth..."

"Why?"

Slicer pointed at Stealth. "He told me to."

"I didn't think you'd actually do it!"

The red head nudged Rane. "So, which one of these boys is the one you were talking about? The one with the hair, the one with the beard, the anti-social one, or the one stuffing his face like a Hutt?"

"The Hutt," Rane answered. "Slicer, this is my friend, Sydney, and that's Rin."

Slicer waved at the two Jedi. "She was talking about me?"

Prime spoke up. "No, thanks, Slicer, it's alright, I'll introduce us." He pointed over at his squad mates. "That's Stealth, and Lurk is hiding over there, I'm Prime, and you've already heard about Slicer, it seems."

Sydney nodded. "Non stop for the past couple days."

"I mentioned him once!" Rane insisted.

Prime chuckled as he noticed Slicer looking slightly disappointed.

"We should probably get going anyway," Rane said. "It was nice meeting the rest of you!" She started to walk away but Sydney grabbed Rane's arm and pulled her back.

"Now, hang on. Are you boys doing anything important today?"

Prime shook his head. "Nope. It's our day off. Don't get too many of these."

"Well, do you want to come down to Gungan Sushi?" Sydney asked.

"Gungan what?"

"It's this place... it has lots of games and greasy food and things. Very much fun. You guys could come with us!"

Stealth stood up and brushed off his kama. "Sounds like fun to me! I'm in."

They all agreed then. Slicer was a bit reluctant to go after having thoroughly embarrassed himself, but eventually Prime talked him into it. The place was only a block away, so it didn't take them too long to walk there, though they had to keep stopping for Sydney and Rin to make fun of people's clothes along the way. Stealth joined in soon after, and the three of them started talking into imaginary comms as if they were doing a runway show.

Gungan Sushi was an odd looking place, with slick, grease-stained floors and neon lights and all sorts of sounds coming from the various games.

"Target practice!" Stealth exclaimed excitedly, jogging over to a shooting range with various moving targets set up. Rin followed along behind him. "I'm the best at this game," he said with a smirk. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a credit, paying the man behind the booth. He picked up one of the toy rifles and took aim. He knocked out most of the targets, pausing only a second before squeezing the trigger, missing only a few times out of the numerous shots he took. He smiled and selected a purple Ewok from the prize booth and handed it to Sydney.

Stealth shook his head. "I can do better."

"You can? Prove it!"

Stealth paid the man at the counter and picked up the same rifle. He took careful aim at the first target, then pulled the trigger. After the first one went down, three more followed suit before Rin even had time to blink. Occasionally, he took down multiple targets with one shot. Even the man behind the booth was amazed. Just a few short seconds later, Stealth put the rifle down and inspected his handiwork. None of the targets were left standing, and the rifle clip wasn't even empty yet. Sydney chuckled. "Still think you're the best, Rin?"

Prime laughed. "Stealth is our sniper."

"Could have told me that before," Rin complained.

Prime strolled through the room, looking around for Lurk. He found him in a corner playing a mini version of net ball. A small little boy was standing beside him, looking up, fascinated with the soldier in the green and light grey armor. The net ball game beeped several times in succession, letting Lurk know he'd reached a high score. Prime folded his arms and smiled as he saw Lurk reach down and lift up the little boy, who pointed out a large stuffed Krayt Dragon. Lurk pulled it off the wall and handed it to the boy, who turned and happily walked off in the other direction, pausing to wave back at his new soldier friend.

"I saw that," Prime said, walking up and nudging Lurk in the side.

"Saw what?" Lurk said, reverting back to his anti-social nature.

"Lurk, can you do me a favor? If anyone asks about the scars... don't tell them that Slicer did it."

Lurk shot Prime a look. "I'm supposed to protect the _aruetii_?"

"I'm not going to argue about this, Lurk. Just don't say anything. Slicer really likes Rane, and she doesn't need to know, alright? Promise me you won't tell her."

Lurk grudgingly agreed. Prime could tell that he had no intention of doing anything that would keep Slicer happy, but for the time being, he had given his word, and that was good enough. Lurk would keep to his promise as he always did.

"_Vor'e_, Lurk," Prime said. "Now let's go get some food."

---

"That is the biggest burger I have ever seen," Slicer said, staring up at the menu. "I'd never be able to eat all that."

"Nonsense!" Rane said. "I bet you could fit the whole thing in your mouth!"

Slicer turned to look at Rane. She puffed out he cheeks in imitation of Slicer. He laughed and hung his head. "I didn't think I would meet up with anyone I knew!"

"That'll teach you to keep your eyes open and your mouth empty, then!" Rane teased, laughing.

"I don't think I've ever been that embarrassed in my life."

"Let's go win you a giant squeaky Gungan toy. That should make you feel better." Rane took hold of Slicer's arm and led him over to a game that wasn't particularly flashy compared to the others. "This one is my favorite game," she said, taking hold of a small weighted ball. "You roll this ball up that slope and try to get it in the holes at the top."

"That seems easy."

"Not as easy as it looks." Rane handed him the ball. "Here, you try!"

Slicer took the ball, leaned over the game, and rolled the ball with way too much force. It bounced off the top of the game and came rolling right back, landing at Slicer's feet, rolling away beneath the feet of the other bystanders. Rane laughed as she watched him chase the ball across the ground. When he finally caught it, his face was that shade of red again.

"Practice shot. That was just a practice shot."

He bent over the game again and rolled the ball more carefully this time. It rolled past the ten and the twenty, finally falling into the hole marked 'fifty'.

"_She'eta_!" Slicer yelled, proud of himself.

"She ate what?"

Slicer laughed. "_She'eta_. It's Mandalorian."

"Ah! Alright then." She handed him the last ball. "Here, one more try."

Slicer took careful aim, trying not to be conscious of the fact that Rane was standing rather close behind him. He rolled the ball up the ramp, past the ten, past the twenty, past the fifty, then _plunk_... it landed in the highest scoring pot.

"_Olan_!" Slicer yelled as a red light whirled around on the top of the game. "What do I win?"

Rane took him back over to the counter where she pointed out a section of prizes on the wall. "Anything from over there."

Slicer didn't take too long in choosing. He picked out a yellow Mandalorian helmet, overstuffed so it was more round than helmet shaped. Slicer handed it to Rane. "Here. So you have something to remember me by." Rane smiled sweetly.

"Hey, _ner vod_, _jetii_, what did you guys win?" Stealth said, jumping up behind Slicer and almost knocking him over. "Oh look! It's a little Mando! That's adorable. Look what I won!" Stealth held up a little plastic Gungan. He gave it a squeeze, making it's ears fly up and it's tongue shoot out, squeaking annoyingly. Slicer laughed. "I hope you don't intend to put that in our barracks. I can't look at that thing all day."

"At least it's better looking than your ugly face," Stealth said, grinning. "Now it's time to say goodbye. Prime wants to head back early."

"Oh... okay, then," Slicer said, clearly disappointed. "Well, it was fun, Rane. Maybe I'll see you again sometime."

"Yeah, maybe," Rane answered. "Bye, Slicer."

Slicer waved bashfully as Stealth dragged him away. Prime and Lurk were waiting outside.

"Hey Prime!" Stealth said, pointing to Slicer. "Look who just sprouted his first hormones!"

Slicer elbowed Stealth. "Will you give it a rest?"

They started to walk back toward the dropship while Stealth danced in circles around Slicer.

"Slicer's got a girlfriend, Slicer's got a girlfriend..."

"Stealth, if you sing that the whole way back, I'll shoot you myself," Prime said.


End file.
